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From Vegas to the Valley – Mobile Gam(bl)ing Uncensored Meeting Coming November 12
Mobile Monday Silicon Valley reminds San Franciscans and influencers in the Valley to come check out the free mobile gambling focused conference next Monday. With mobile monetization continuing to be a major focus in the world of gaming and gambling, many of the top minds in the field are meeting to host a panel to discussion these topics. With many industry professionals, including Mobile Monday, betting on the business of betting, they invite members of the community interested in these topics to stop by and join the conversation.
Hosted at Adobe’s San Francisco office, the panel of speakers includes industry leaders and veterans in the real-money gaming space, including:
- Chris Griffin, CEO of Betable
- Carey DiJulio, General Manager Self Aware Games & Casino Products at Big Fish
- Gerard Cunningham, CEO of Koolbits, former President of Betfair
- Wynn Wu, Playstudios, former Director of eStrategies at Wynn Las Vegas
The event is free to attend, so if you’re interested, RSVP here. Read below the break for more details on the event.
Bunker Mode Launches High Limit Sports Mobile App
The social sports-betting market just got a new contender. The company Bunker Mode has launched a new mobile app called High Limit Sports, available for iOS devices. An Android version is planned for later.
The game is intended for audiences interested in a purely social betting experience, with no risk of losing real money. It was developed by Greg Dirrenberger, Jason Bredice, and Matt Pangborn out of San Francisco. Check out some more details on VentureBeat.
“Our goal with High Limit Sports was to turn sports betting into a game, removing the complexity of the sports-book experience and replacing it with entertaining features that reward people for playing often,” said Dirrenberger. “We’ve created a mobile game that connects fans with their favorite team in an even deeper way while providing a great second-screen experience for tracking live sporting events.”
Ah, the second-screen experience. It’s a concept that’s been gaining ground in popular entertainment these days. A recent study found that 85 percent of tablet owners use their devices when watching TV. There is vast potential for attractive new apps to cash in on the second-screen experience. Sports-betting apps are one way, especially when you consider that Sean Ryan, the director of game partnerships at Facebook recently said that “sports fantasy apps are certainly an area that was underrepresented.” Every time someone employed by Facebook says something is underrepresented, startup folks perk up all across the Bay area like startled meerkats.
At the moment, High Limit Sports is a free-to-play title that features NFL, CFL and NCAA football. The company intends to add additional sports later, beginning with the NBA.
Is High Limit Sports late to the show? Hardly! Just because companies like RocketPlay and Pickmoto have arrived on the scene doesn’t mean that Bunker Mode’s new game has any less of a chance to take off. As Matt Pangborn said, “We may be the 10th to come out this month, but the platform we are building will be a lot different. We believe this is an underserved demographic, and we will be true to the casual sports game segment.”
Check out the game for yourself and see what High Limit Sports has to offer this emerging new market.
Betable Forms Partnerships to Compete with Zynga
Betable Ltd has reached agreements with three social-gaming companies that will uses its platform to directly compete with Zynga’s entry into the ring. Bloomberg has full coverage of the story.
Slingo Inc, which is a maker of virtual slots and bingo titles, will use Betable’s shiny new U.K. gambling license and technology for future games. Slingo attracts roughly 54 million users every single month. The other companies that have partnered up with Betable are Digital Chocolate Inc and Murka Ltd.
Digital Chocolate was started by Electronic Arts, Inc. and Murka is the maker of the popular game “Slots Journey.”
Last week, Zynga formed a partnership with bwin.party to launch U.K. real-money gambling. But Betable was first on the scene with its partnership with Big Fish Games, which recently launched its first real-money gambling game. They’re interested in pressing that homefield advantage. Betable believes it can streamline the licensing and offer developers a framework to instantly get things running on social networks.
Betable’s new partner Slingo believes that the development of online operations will benefit he company. “Our goal would be to transition online players into gamblers of our content,” Slingo CEO Rich Roberts said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Betable gives us an opportunity to move a little bit quicker than we could on our own.”
Online gambling has been legal in the U.K. since 2005, and has reached a market value of over $2 billion.
South Point Weeks Away from First Legal Online Poker Site
South Point poker, as you might recall, was the first company to receive official approval from the NGC to conduct online poker operations. According to South Point and casino officials, the site is ready to launch the moment Nevada gaming regulators issue their final approval.
Southpointpoker.com was a free-to-play poker site that operated for several months before being shut down. Now, the company is poised to relaunch the domain into the country’s very first totally legal online gambling game. If you head over to the site you get a terse little teaser: “Real Money. Legal. Coming Soon.”
“There’s a lot of meticulous details we have had to go through with a fine toothed comb,” said Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Vaughn. “It’s nerve-wracking because it’s a lot of pressure. But I think we have a pretty unique contribution and an interesting perspective to give the people with this product and I think they’re going to like it.”
Remember, South Point still hasn’t filled all their positions. Interested in applying for a job in this huge new growth industry? Why not browse South Point’s list of open positions?
Phil Ivey Launches New Social Media Poker Site
I’m told this gentleman’s nickname is The Tiger Woods of Poker. Phil Ivey is considered by many to be one of the best all-around poker players in the world today. He’s won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and one World Poker Tour title. He’s kind of a big deal.
He’s launching a new social media poker website called iveypoker.com. At the moment the site offers little more than a mailing list sign up box and a link to the website of Greg Merson, another star WSOP player.
The site’s slogan is “It’s more fun when you win.” Ivey told ESPN he’s interesting in teaching the world how to play better poker.
The site will offer video instruction, and free online games. This is the educational power of social media at work. Crowd-sourced poker strategy! As Ivey says:
“People aren’t learning how to play. You see people just going on there and playing, but not really learning how to play the right way. What we’re doing here is teaching people how to become a winning poker player. I think a lot of people really don’t know how to play poker, and I think this is going to be an opportunity to play with the best players in the world.”
And it’s a good thing too, considering the enormous potential the online poker and casino industry can have. But then again, if everyone became a star poker player, then that means the house won’t win as much, meaning less economic stimulation.
So wait, what’s the lesson here?
Who cares?! Iveypoker.com! Sign up today!
Online Casino Advertising Could Reach $15 Billion in Next Ten Years
How big is the online casino advertising business going to be? “Astoundingly f***ing big,” writes Gawker’s Hamilton Nolan.
Ad Age Digital posted a story about how in the next five years, somewhere between $3.5 billion and $4 billion will be spent on marketing for the internet gaming sector. Let’s get the boys in from Mad Men to Lucky Strike the hell out of this business, because it’s going to get pretty dramatic.
Ad Age writes that according to Simon Holliday, director at H2 Gambling Capital believes the value of the online-gambling market to exceed $13 billion in the next decade, but not without the help of a major marketing boom.
“Driving players to their sites is the biggest single cost of these companies,” he said. “It is probable that 25% to 30% of company net revenues [20% less than the gross including bonuses] will be spent on advertising and marketing budgets in the initial years, as there is a land grab.”
The vast potential of this market can only be achieved by overcoming obstacles, the first of course being the state-by-state regulation of online poker and the general illegality of online gambling in the U.S.
And here’s something I hadn’t considered before: Google’s policy in the U.S. is an obstacle to overcome. Google “doesn’t allow advertising for internet-based games where money or other items of value are paid or wagered in order to win a greater sum of money or other item of value.” But you know, Google has been known to adapt with the times. Perhaps that kind of thing will be changed, if only on a state-by-state basis.
I like how Gawker’s Nolan concluded his story:
“This would be a great way to rescue the U.S. economy, if only every dollar earned were not coming out of the pocket of another poorer and more desperate U.S. citizen.”
California Online Poker Lobbying Group Dissolves
The California Online Poker Association today announced its decision to disband, “based upon insufficient progress within the Legislature toward the passage of an online poker bill,” according to the group’s spokesman Ryan Hightower.
The Association was comprised of a variety of tribes and card rooms and was formed two years ago to lobby for legal internet poker in California.
Several bills over the last three years have been proposed, all dealing with the taxation and regulation of online gambling in California, but each one fell apart after gambling personalities bickered over who would profit the most.
According to the Sacramento Bee,
The group was one of the state’s biggest spenders on lobbying during the first half of 2012, outspending many lobbying powerhouses including Chevron and the California Teachers Association. COPA spent more than $1.2 million on lobbying in first six months of 2012, making it the tenth biggest spender during that period.
Well, a major California lobbying interest has gone down. So long as we still have national lobbyists campaigning for taxation and regulation, I think we’ll be ok.
The Staggering Growth of Online Gambling
On this lovely Friday afternoon, Chipist is giving you some weekend homework. Your assignment is to study the numbers in the below infographic and remind yourself of exactly what kind of industry the world of online gambling represents. Created by the folks over at Poker Sites, the graphic states that in a sense, the growth of online gambling has actually surpassed social media itself.
There was a 32 percent increase in online gambling in just a single year. One year saw an entire third more people get into the game. Social media only saw a 4.5 percent growth. Now, you’ll need to take that with a grain of salt. Social media already has a titanic number of users, so a 4.5 percent yearly increase still constitutes a significant number of people. But it’s exciting to see that online gambling grew by such a huge margin as well.
The graphic also takes a look at the U.S. market. We already know the U.K. market is thriving, but we’re more interested in our own shores. Coming in at 63 percent, lottery play is the most popular online gambling activity. I’m wondering what kind of numbers we’d see if online poker was regulated by the federal government?
Click the infographic for a full view.
Click for full resolution.
Nevada Governor Supports Reid-Kyl Bill
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is offering his full support to the Reid-Kyl Online Poker bill currently proposed in Congress. While it may sound particularly obvious to hear of the governor of the gambling-friendly state of Nevada endorsing such a bill, keep in mind that Brian Sandoval is a Republican. His support of the bill is in opposition to the general stance of the GOP, which would likely favor a total ban on all online gambling operations and a repeal of the DOJ’s interpretation of the Federal Wire Act.
“While many states have long-standing proficiency in regulating brick-and-mortar gaming within their boundaries, the advent of Internet gaming has introduced a borderless element that state regulation alone cannot address,” Sandoval wrote.
“As governor of a state that jealously guards its primacy in the regulation of gaming, I am pleased the proposal maintains state authority to regulate online poker operators built upon a basic federal foundation of common-sense regulatory principles.”
This kind of legislation is being hailed by some politicians as a job-creating opportunity and a chance to generate much-needed revenue for the federal government. Regulate it. Tax it. Be done with it.
Zynga Makes First Move Toward Real-Money Gambling
Just because Zynga didn’t purchase the OnGame Network doesn’t mean it didn’t have a trick up its sleeve. Today the company announced an exclusive partnership with bwin.party that marks the company’s first move into the holy grail of real-money social gambling. At the moment, the plans seem to suggest that the real-money operations will only occur in the United Kingdom, which falls in line with industry predictions that Zynga would not announce such a plan for U.S. customers.
This is pretty big news, and it will be exciting to see how this announcement impact investor reception of Zynga’s third quarter results. Just yesterday, Zynga axed a whole bunch of folks, and this announcement is feeling like a bit of a bounceback.
It’s worth posting the company’s press release in its entirety because this is a historic industry development. Check back later for more news.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), the world’s leading provider of social game services, and bwin.party, the leading international real money gaming operator, today announced an exclusive partnership to offer real money online Poker and Casino games in the UK market. Zynga’s UK-based RMG service and bwin.party will launch RMG products including Poker and a full suite of 180 Casino games in the first half of 2013, which include table games such as slots, roulette and blackjack.
“Bringing together Zynga’s expertise in social gaming with the top international real money gaming operator is the best way to create the highest quality gaming experiences for our players in the UK,” said Barry Cottle, Executive Vice President, Corporate and Business Development, Zynga. “Partnering with an established leader like bwin.party is a strategic and prudent way for us to enter a key RMG market while giving local players the real money games they’ve been asking us for.”
“Today’s announcement is another example of our success in leveraging our assets through strategic blue-chip partners,” said Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, Co-CEOs of bwin.party. “Zynga is the world’s leader in social games with hundreds of millions of active players worldwide and a significant player base in the UK. We are delighted to have been selected as their chosen partner for this important step in their evolution, and hope to expand our relationship into other products and markets.”
Zynga’s real money UK poker customers will join the bwin.party dotcom player liquidity pool — getting the benefits of playing on the largest regulated poker network. Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will be powered by the established operating platform, software, and related support of bwin.party.
In addition to the full suite of Casino and Poker games, Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will also leverage the company’s world renowned entertainment brand, FarmVille, to offer local players the first-ever, online FarmVille-branded real money slots game.
Zynga’s UK-based RMG service will operate under bwin.party’s Gibraltar gaming license.
